A master watchmaker from Geneva who dazzles the world with his brilliant mechanisms

Antoine Preziuso was born in Geneva in 1957. Legend has it that he successfully assembled his first watch at the age of seven. At 17, Preziuso took admission in one of Geneva’s watchmaking schools. He graduated at 21 as the top student in watchmaking and restoration – a precocious prodigy in the art of watchmaking. Frank Muller was his classmate. Preziuso joined Patek Philippe, where he made top-of-the-line watches, while also gaining experience in the restoration of antique timepieces for auction houses and antiquorums. In 1981, Preziuso decided to go it alone. By 1993, he had announced the first watch under his own brand. In 1995, Preziuso became a regular member of the Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants, and came into the limelight after his first exhibition in the BaselWorld Watch and Jewellery Show. Preziuso’s specialty is creating ultra-complex timepieces housing complex horological mechanisms and automaton wrist-watches. His constant endeavor is to create beautiful and revolutionary timepieces. Preziuso also collaborates with other watch brands – Harry Winston’s Opus is his creation – and is one of Geneva’s best independent watchmakers today.

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The TOURBILLON of TOURBILLONS AFP-TTR-3X – To The Power of Three (Released 2015)

A piece that contains the genius of a master watchmaker, distilled over the course of 35 years. It won the 2015 Grand Prix d' Horlogerie of Geneva.

A tourbillon is a horological complication invented by history’s greatest watchmaker, Abraham-Louis Breguet, who was active in the 18th and 19th centuries. It encases the escapement, which is the heart of the timekeeping element of a mechanical watch, and spins it constantly. The effect of gravity on the escapement changes depending on the position of a watch, and this negatively affects its precision (position difference). A tourbillon is a ingenious mechanism for alleviating the effect of gravity and dramatically improving precision. Ever since the invention of the tourbillon, watchmakers have been trying to further develop this mechanism, which while requiring extremely fine construction and adjustment skills, is visually as enthralling as a planet spinning on its axis around the sun.

Antoine Preziuso is also one of the master watchmakers in Geneva today who have continued to develop tourbillon technology.

In 2005, a dominant patent application was filed for the “Toubillon of Tourbillons,” which Preziuso developed jointly with his son Florian, who is also a watchmaker. When the patent was finally recognized in 2011, the long-awaited manufacturing process was begun and the result is this piece. It is a revolutionary and transcendental tourbillon watch that contains the distilled essence of Preziuso’s efforts in tourbillon innovation, and won the 2015 Grand Prix d' Horlogerie of Geneva (GPHG), shining in the two departments of Innovation Watch Prize and Public Prize.

The movement of this watch, named “Caliber ATT-TTR3X,” contains three patented technologies developed by Preziuso himself. Three tourbillons have been incorporated into the mechanism, each of which rotates once in a minute as part of the timekeeping process (one-minute tourbillon).

Below the three tourbillons is a differential gear system named “the mechanical brain,” which integrates each second of time generated by the three separate tourbillons, oscillating at the rate of 21,600 times/hour. When an error arises, the power of the barrels is skillfully distributed/adjusted to be synchronous, thereby increasing precision.

The movement consists of about 600 parts, of which about 100 parts comprise the mechanical brain. The three tourbillons, arranged to form an equilateral triangle, rotates around the dial of the watch once every 10 minutes. In other words, the watch has two dramatic contrivances.

The movement, which includes two barrels, can be viewed from the back of the case, which has been exquisitely designed. Astonishingly enough, the barrels have a power reserve of 45 hours despite driving such a complex mechanism. The titanium case of the three-piece watch is held together from top and bottom by 24 titanium screws.

As Preziuso himself says, this watch has “the past, the present and the future” all incorporated within it, and is one of the most advanced mechanical watches of our time. With this masterpiece, which will shine forever, Preziuso’s name has gone down in the history of watchmaking.

The TOURBILLON of TOURBILLONS AFP-TTR-3X – To The Power of Three

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